After Oregon cattleman Dwight Hammond Jr. received a pardon from President Trump in July and returned home to Burns, he said his main priority remained the same: working to restore his ranch’s grazing permit to keep the family operation viable.
On Monday afternoon, he learned he had reached the goal: In one of Interior Secretary Ryan K. Zinke’s last actions before resigning, he ordered the renewal of a 10-year grazing permit for Hammond Ranches Inc., run by the elder Hammond and son Steven Hammond.
“I find the pardons constitute unique and important changed circumstances since the BLM made its decision,’’ Zinke wrote in a decision dated Jan. 2. The order wasn’t sent out to attorneys involved until this week, likely due to the partial government shutdown.
Zinke ordered the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to renew the grazing permit through 2024.
READ: Zinke’s decision